Forrest Mims III: Amateur scientists have paved the way for pros

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July 25, 2011
: Updated: July 25, 2011 12:54am

The lightning rod, like this one that protects delicate instruments at Hawaii's Mauna Loa Observatory, was first proposed in 1750 by amateur scientist and inventor Benjamin Franklin. Photograph by Forrest M. Mims III

For most of human history, men and women with absolutely no formal training served as society's inventors and scientists. While the names of most of these people are unknown, many of their creations and discoveries remain features of everyday life.

Consider the role of the wheel in today's civilization, which would be very different without it. Yet we have no idea who invented the wheel. Nor does history reveal who invented the bow and arrow, baskets, rope, pottery, saddles, black powder, the abacus and stone projectile points, knives and drills.

Millennia before today's scientists began tinkering with the genetic code of plants and animals, people were selectively breeding plants and animals to artificially alter their characteristics.

Today some of their creations feed billions of people and animals. One of their most stunning achievements is maize (corn), which is raised around the world.

The unknown amateur scientists and inventors who paved the way were followed in recent centuries by a host of similarly self-taught people whose names are recorded and some of whom are world-famous. Leonardo da Vinci's achievements in anatomy and invention are widely known, as are Benjamin Franklin's discovery of the electrical nature of lightning and Alexander Graham Bell's perfecting of the telephone and invention of the first method for sending voice over a beam of light.

Amateur science still is pursued today, usually by individuals or small teams, and sometimes in coordination with professional scientists.

While my college degree is in government, I've pursued science as an amateur for most of my career, often collaborating with professional scientists. The gold standard for acceptance by the professional scientist community is a record of making discoveries and publishing papers in scholarly journals.

Amateur scientists who acquire these credentials will learn that professional scientists are far more impressed by the science one does than by a string of degrees. Some of us amateurs have been sent to do science at distant points around the world, invited to give talks at science conferences and asked to review the books and papers of professional scientists.

Modern medicine was pioneered by amateurs but has become far too specialized for amateur scientists, usually for very good reasons. Colleges and universities sometimes invite experienced amateur scientists to give symposiums and demonstrations, but accreditation rules generally rule out hiring even highly qualified amateurs as instructors and professors.

This can be pretty silly, as when a highly successful author of computer books I know returned to college to earn a degree to further his career, even though he knew far more about computer programming than his professors.